‘The Jaded Assassin’: A Martial Arts Film, Only Live

The first decapitation gets a laugh. So do the cast’s open mouths, frozen as if they were on mannequins painted while speaking about something upsetting. The shadow puppets are hits. But “The Jaded Assassin,” Michael Voyer’s innovative martial-arts fantasy, is all about the battles.

It’s not unusual to go to the theater these days and see a fight choreographer listed in the program. It is strange, however, to see a show that consists of almost nothing but that person’s work.

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From left, David Solomon Rodriguez, Jason Schumacher and Jo-anne Lee in a battle scene choreographed by Rod Kinter.Credit...Rebeca Ramirez

In the case of “The Jaded Assassin,” the final presentation in the Ice Factory 2006 festival, the fight choreography is by Rod Kinter. And it is entirely appropriate that in the program his name comes right after that of the director (Timothy Haskell, who is also credited with having conceived the production).

There is a plot to go with the kicks, jumps, falls and rolls. The Narrator (Laine D’Souza) recounts a long, complicated tale about a rich, arrogant tribe of warriors who were virtually wiped out by a plague. The only remaining member is Soon-Jal (Jo-anne Lee), who seems to be the title character. After her true love, Li (David Solomon Rodriguez), is killed, Soon-Jal, hit woman for the rich and famous, has encounters with a gentle servant (Aaron Haskell), a wizard (Nick Arens) and the monstrous Rektor (John Ficarra), who is out to get Soon-Jal.

But the pleasure of the show is the fighting. Martial arts fans will enjoy it most, but there is one spectacular sequence that everyone can appreciate. Just as I was thinking that an Off Broadway stage was the wrong place for this sort of thing, a slow-flash strobe began, giving the characters the appearance of flight or at least levitation. Take that, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”!

The cast shows an impressive degree of athleticism. Faye Armon’s puppets are cute. And somewhere in there there’s a message about humanity’s dissatisfaction with only moments or hours of happiness and the dangers of being ruled by anger.